China's Longest Water-eroded Cave Partially Open to TouristsThe 4 km section of a 35 km water- eroded cave, the longest of its kind in China, is now open to tourists in Anhua county in central China's Hunan province.Located in a hilly area 28 km from Dongping, the county seat, the cave was first discovered in September 1998 by seven local farmers. It took them two days and nights to cover the whole cave, in which they found snow-white stalactites in various forms and the widest point is spacious enough for several thousand people. The mouth of the cave, known as Qinglong Cave, is about 100 meters high and 80 meters wide. The discovery drew the attention of three geologists from China Geological University in October 1998, and an investigation tour of the cave by them confirmed that it is the longest of its kind in China. Experts say the cave was formed over more than 100 million years as limestone hills were eroded by water. The local government decided recently to open a 4 km section of the Qinglong Cave to tourists after careful preparations, together with a 2 km section of a similar cave called Longquan, or Dragon Spring Cave. |
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